Saliba set to join Arsenal for £27m before returning to Saint Etienne

Arsenalare poised to sign 18-year-old centre back William Saliba from Saint-Etienne for a fee of £27million. The Frenchman is scheduled to undergo a medical in north Londonon Tuesday before returning to the Ligue 1club on a season-long loan.Saliba made 16 appearances during his debut campaign after breaking into the first-team in late September.Despite Arsenal's defensive troubles last season — they kept just one Premier League clean sheet away from home — it is unlikely that Saliba would be a regular starter under Unai Emery next season.

A season-long loan back to Saint-Etienne will therefore suit all parties.Saint-Etienne president Roland Romeyer has claimed that the player is himself keen to spend another year at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.And Arsenal's decision to loan the teenager back to Saint-Etienne should give them extra flexibility in the transfer market this summer.Meanwhile Unai Emery assured Arsenalfans the club are pushing to sign 'big, expensive' players and confirmed he wants to bring in up to four new faces.Boss Emery delivered an upbeat message about Arsenal's transfer plans ahead of their pre-season friendly win against Bayern Munichin LA in the early hours of Thursday morning, insisting he is being very demanding of the club.'We need really that they will come with a big performance and also our target is to achieve three, four players to really improve our team and squad now', the Spaniard said.